Sheep are an iconic part of Ireland’s image. Walk into any gift store and take a look at the hundreds of postcards, stuffed animals, or drinking glasses that feature these animals. Sheep line the shelves and adorn the hills, but what are they really doing in Ireland? We are Elena, Hashna, Mia, and Maya, and in Ewe Herd it Here First, we will take you through the reality of a small-scale sheep farm in West Kerry all the way to a local store that sells Kerry wool and talk about the future of these woolly animals.
Mia: When you picture Ireland, what do you see? Rocky cliffs plunging into breaking waves, rolling green hills, and of course,
*Sheep Bleat*
Sheep. Ireland’s gift shops are lined with sheep merchandise ranging from keychains to plushies to postcards. Clearly, sheep are an iconic part of Irish culture, but what do sheep really mean to Ireland today?
Elena: This is Ewe Herd It Here First, and we are Elena, Hashna, Mia, and Maya, and we are in County Kerry, Ireland on a UC Santa Cruz study abroad program. We’re exploring the culture and economics of the sheep farms that support the 114,305 sheep in County Kerry.
*Sheep Bleats*
Maya: Those are the sheep at Dinny Galvin’s farm. They eye us cautiously as they realize we’re not going to feed them. Their cloud-like bodies begin to trot over to the gate the moment they spot Dinny.
Dinny Galvin:
So my name is Dinny Galvin, I’m a dairy and sheep farmer. I have 40 cows and we have 20 sheep. My dad bought a few sheep by accident on the market and brought them home and right away I fell in love with the sheep. I just wanted to keep the sheep and have a few baby lambs and that was it.
*Dog Barking*
Hashna: And this is Dan. He’s a border collie that Dinny uses to herd his cows and sheep. Dan is bringing the sheep in now so we can take a closer look. These sheep have shaggy white coats, curling horns, and faces like Rorschach inkblots.
Elena: Dinny introduces us to his sheep as if he was asking us to meet members of his family. And in a sense, they are.
Dinny Galvin: Everybody’s different. You might think alike, but we’re all different. And so are the sheep. You’ve just gotta see it in them, that’s all.
Hashna: We were surprised to learn that Dinny doesn’t raise these sheep for their wool. In fact, their wool is somewhat of a financial burden to him, rather than a valuable product.
Dinny: It’s not so much about the wool, but it’s just that the value isn’t added to it. A disgrace.Yeah. Um, there’s one big market in England, Bradford Market. That’s where they process and scour all the wool and clean it. So we should be doing that locally here. We have a hundred tonne of wool comes into a place locally here. Yeah and it’s just packed into large bales and shipped to Bradford, UK.
If we were just scouring that, which is washing it, that would put money back into the farmer’s pockets because it’s not going halfway around the world to be washed.
Mia: Wow, shipping wool all the way to England, that’s a hefty expense. And look around, most people are wearing synthetic fabrics. Even my sweater is acrylic. Wool just isn’thigh in demand anymore.
Maya: So If wool is such a burden, why raise sheep for wool?
Dinny: I don’t think we’re raising sheep for wool anymore, but you’ve got to take it off them. You have to shear the sheep. It’s just like getting a haircut.
Mia: Ireland has lost 15,000 sheep farms since 1993. Dinny told us what would be lost from Irish culture if this trend continues
Dinny Galvin: You lose the rural communities. You lose rural people out of the countryside, you’re going to lose the school. You’re probably going to lose the sports, the GAA.
And you’re going to lose people in general, people to talk to. You know, that’s a big, big thing. Animals will provide you with a certain amount of company, but if you have nobody, if you haven’t another human being to talk to, it’s, you know, it’s not a good way to be.
Elena: So wait, if these farms are shrinking and they don’t raise sheep for wool anymore, why are these shops full of wool products that claim to be locally sourced?
Mia: Well Kerry Woolen Mills is a local shop and wool processing company that is one of only two working mills left in ireland. We talked to the manager of this shop to get a wool makers perspective
You walk in the small, square building and a rainbow of colors and textures greet you. Local wool products like hats, blankets, scarves, and yarn flood every shelf, clothes rack, and bin.
Grainne Garnain: My own name is Gráinne Gárnain and I manage Kerry Wool Mill Shop in Dingle. Kerry Wool Mills is a mill located about 40 km from Dingle itself and they have been producing wool for, well, since the 17th century. The current owners have had it in their family for about 110 years now.
The Majority of what we source is, we would predominantly use Irish wool. Now you do get different textures through the shop purely because we use a mixture of lambs’ wool and then the Aran, the adult sheep.
Maya: Like Dinny, Gráinne emphasized the community in the wool industry.
Grainne Garnain: I mean they’re intertwined, all the working mills work together.
So even here we will stock Cushendale, we’ll stock Rosson. Because they’re like us. So the smaller mills, we do support each other. We are small working mills. So yeah, we work very, very closely with them
Mia: She also pointed out changes that she noticed.
Grainne Garnain: It’s changing even now. So in recent years, even in the last kind of five years, there’s a big push on education, both educating, I suppose the mills themselves and the farmers.
So, The price of the sheep fleece is low. That’s an argument that I mean, every farmer has, and often it will cost a farmer more to shear the sheep than what they’re getting for the fleece. So we are focusing on, I suppose, educating farmers that the better quality fleece is obviously going to produce a higher quality or a higher price.
On the flip side of it, there is only two working mills left in Ireland doing the full process. So really need a high standard. So, education all around will make a big difference.
Mia: We questioned her on what she saw for the future of wool, and she answered to us,
Grainne Garnain: I see Irish wool making a big comeback, to be honest. I mean, there is a major focus on it now, and it’s a fantastic raw material.
Like, it’ll keep you warm, it’ll help keep you cool. It’s self cleaning, which is always nice. It’s a really long, durable product. And the fact that it’s sustainable, renewable, It’s kind of a no brainer. So there is a lot of focus on mattresses, insulation now being used with the Irish wool. There is definitely more to be done with the Irish wool, and I reckon insulation is probably the way to go.
Mia: Wait, insulation? Like, using it in walls?
Elena: Yeah, Dinny mentioned this as well! He was talking to us about his hope for the future of sheep farming.
Dinny Galvin: Try to get something done with the wool–probably insulation. We need to build a pile of homes. Wool is biodegradable. Synthetic insulation isn’t a good thing, because if your house is remodeled or knocked that goes back into landfill, and the synthetic stuff doesn’t break down.
Maya: – Wool holds the story of a way of life in County Kerry. People here have grown up surrounded by sheep for thousands of years. For some, it’s an emotional and tactile connection to family.
Grainne Garnain: As a kid, I remember my grandmother knitting for me. I remember sitting down and being taught how to knit, and you were an absolute failure if you couldn’t master it. And I do, I see it too, I do it with my own girls. I have them knitting and sewing, and they’re using the Irish wool, and I suppose the biggest thing for me is as a child living in a rural place you grow up with sheep and you’re surrounded by them and you never have an appreciation for what they give you.
Hashna: Times are changing. The old way of life is becoming more and more distant. But many sheep farmers in Kerry, like Dinny Galvin, are trying to change with the times in order to keep their traditions alive.
Elena: So what is the future of sheep farming in Kerry? No one has a crystal ball, but it likely involves innovation and keeping products local. And Ewe Herd it Here First! We are Hashna, Mia, Maya, and Elena, and we are with UCSC in Kerry, Ireland. Thank you for listening!
Dingle Hub: Dinny Galvin Website: Link
Kerry Woolen Mills Website: Link
